Post 11 scores first, falls to Apex in eight innings

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on May 28, 2015 1:46 PM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

DUDLEY -- After warming up the left fielder in the seventh inning, Sawyer Smith walked into the dugout and summed up the game better than anyone.

"Rough night," Smith said.

It certainly was.

Apex handed Wayne County Post 11 a 12-1, eight-inning mercy-rule beating on Wednesday night.

"We just had zero intensity from the first inning on," Post 11 coach Jason Sherrer said.

Post 11 scratched out the game's first after Kevin Williams hit a double off the center field fence. He later crossed home plate on a passed ball.

The cushion wouldn't last long for starter Jordan Gurley. Gurley started sharp and pounded the strike zone with fastballs on the inside part of the plate. Apex tied the game in the second inning and scored five runs in the third.

"I thought Jordan threw the ball well enough to keep us in the game," Sherrer said. "He got a little unlucky and then he missed a few spots and they took advantage of that. But, overall he didn't look bad."

Gurley lasted six-plus innings and surrendered eight runs.

Wayne County mustered just two hits -- both by Coy Barnett -- after the third inning and never really threatened to score. A relatively young team, Post 11 was aggressive at the plate, attacking on the first pitch many times.

"When you have a young team like this and you're playing the best teams from an area like Legion ball is, you have some kids who come from high school ball with the same approach at the plate and they make some mistakes," Sherrer said. "They just need to understand when it's OK to be aggressive and when not to be. They will get there though."

Apex starter Jake Molden lasted seven innings, surrendered three hits and walked three. With just three pitchers available, Molden had to eat as many innings as possible. He exceeded expectations with his performance.

Short-handed Post 11 continues to wait for the arrival of six Charles B. Aycock players. The group will add depth to the pitching staff and provide some pop at the plate.

"That's kind of the frustrating thing about this game is there are guys who usually may not get a chance out there if we had a full team who are getting ample opportunity to shine and they aren't taking advantage of it," Sherrer said. "It's not what they're doing physically, it's that they're not bringing any intensity."